SCHUMER ANNOUNCES ROCHESTER’S LI-CYCLE AWARDED GAMECHANGING $375 MILLION DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LOAN – CREATING 270 GOOD PAYING ROCHESTER JOBS AND 1,000 CONSTRUCTION JOBS - TO POWER FINGER LAKES AS GLOBAL BATTERY HUB
Schumer Led The Charge Last Year To Push Feds To Invest In Rochester’s Li-Cycle With The Billions He Secured In The Inflation Reduction Act & Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Senator Says New $375M DOE Loan Will Power Up Li-Cycle And Create A Strong American Supply Chain For Critical Materials To Help Bring Battery Production Back From Overseas – Experts Project Li-Cycle Will Become One Of The Largest Suppliers Of Lithium Carbonate In The U.S.
Schumer: Inflation Reduction Act $$$ Will Supercharge 270 Good-Paying Rochester Jobs And Spark Upstate NY As A Growing Global Battery Hub
After launching an all-out push last year, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced that Rochester’s Li-Cycle, a leading lithium-ion battery recycler, has been awarded a major $375 million U.S. Department of Energy loan through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program to create 270 jobs at its Rochester HUB facility. This major federal investment represents the culmination of efforts by the senator to boost clean tech companies like Li-Cycle, with this loan funded through the Schumer-championed Inflation Reduction Act.
The federal funding will help Li-Cycle become the first-of-its-kind lithium-ion battery resource recovery facility, creating 270 good paying jobs once completed and it will create more than 1,000 new construction jobs. Schumer said that Li-Cycle will play an essential role in creating a critical domestic supply chain for a resource the U.S. too often depends on getting overseas, and will help further cement Upstate New York as an emerging hub for the revival of battery production in the U.S.
“$375 million will now supercharge Li-Cycle here in Rochester, with 270 good-paying jobs, to become one of America’s largest suppliers of recycled materials for batteries. Last year, I stood alongside Li-Cycle’s powerhouse workforce and promised I would push to deliver federal funding to spark more growth, and now thanks to the investments I secured in the Inflation Reduction Act, Rochester will help power America’s drive to lead in battery technology,” said Senator Schumer. “This DOE investment in Li-Cycle will reduce our reliance on China and strengthen America’s battery supply chain. And once the facility is at full steam, it is projected to be the biggest source of lithium carbonate in the United States. That means the heart of hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles, which will soon dominate our roads, will be made with battery components from right here in Rochester.”
In September of last year, Schumer personally visited Li-Cycle to announce his push for them to access these investments, promising the workers that he would fight tooth and nail to help them grow. Schumer also wrote directly to Department of Energy Secretary Granholm in support of Li-Cycle’s application. Today, the senator delivered on this promise with Li-Cycle as the first to receive a game changing DOE ATVM loan for a resource recovery facility, putting a national spotlight on Rochester and Upstate NY as a leader for growing battery industry.
“We are delighted to receive the first conditional commitment from the DOE for a resource recovery facility, as it further supports our efforts to create a more sustainable domestic supply chain of battery-grade materials in the U.S. and to grow American jobs,” said Ajay Kochhar, Li-Cycle Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The Rochester Hub is a cornerstone asset for Li-Cycle and its stakeholders and will be an important contributor to the clean energy economy. As a sustainable pure-play battery material recycling company, we expect the Rochester Hub will position Li-Cycle as a leading domestic producer of recycled battery-grade materials for accelerating electrification demand to address climate change and secure energy independence.”
“I am thrilled the Department of Energy has recognized the enormous potential of Li-Cycle’s Rochester Hub and is choosing to invest not just in them, but in the future of our clean energy economy,” said Congressman Joe Morelle. “Li-Cycle is leading the way in cutting-edge technology that is strengthening our domestic supply chains while creating a more sustainable planet for all of us. I look forward to my continued work with Li-Cycle, Senator Schumer, and all of our partners to support their growth and expansion for years to come.”
Specifically, Schumer explained that the DOE Loan Programs Office has issued a conditional commitment to Li-Cycle US Holdings, Inc. for a $375 million loan to help finance the expansion of its first-of-its-kind lithium-ion battery resource recovery facility in Rochester to support the battery needs of the growing electric vehicle market. Schumer explained the Inflation Reduction Act provided $3 Billion for the costs (credit subsidy) of direct loans under the ATVM program, which is estimated to enable the DOE to provide as much as $40 Billion in new loans like this one that Li-Cycle is receiving. The conditional commitment is the fifth critical materials and EV supply chain project announced under ATVM within the last year. After providing loans to auto manufacturers like Ford, Nissan, and Tesla in 2009-2010, this is part of a new wave of commitments from DOE to support vehicle manufacturing and to build a strong domestic supply chain, including companies like Li-Cycle, for advanced transportation solutions.
Plus the Inflation Reduction Act creates new consumer Electric Vehicle Tax Credits that will create a huge new market demand for clean battery-powered vehicles. But to get the tax credit, car makers will be required to use minerals made or recycled in the U.S. at places like Li-Cycle, not from foreign countries like China which have dominated the industry. Schumer said this will create a huge new demand for the Li-Cycle-produced minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt.
The DOE loan supported project is expected to create more than 1,000 new construction jobs at its peak and create 270 permanent good paying jobs once fully operational. When the facility is running at full steam, experts predict this would be the biggest source of lithium carbonate in the U.S.. This will allow the Rochester facility’s to support the battery needs of approximately 203,000 electric vehicles annually. This quantity of electric vehicles would reduce gasoline use by about 80.6 million gallons per year, equivalent to more than 716,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, according to the EPA’s emissions calculator.
Schumer said batteries are integral to everyday life, helping to power mobile phones, laptops, smart watches, and electric vehicles, but unfortunately, much of the manufacturing of this critical technology has been offshored, leaving the country vulnerable to supply chain disruptions that can raise costs for working families, jeopardize livelihoods, and compromise U.S. national security. To help bring this industry back to America, Schumer in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) helped add $6 billion for federal incentives to build a domestic battery production industry and the battery mineral supply chain. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act added hundreds of billions in loan authority for the Department of Energy’s loan programs to make critical investments in on shoring these supply chains.
This $375 million federal investment will enable Li-Cycle to fully build out its 270-employee “North American Hub” at Rochester’s Eastman Business Park. This hub production facility will take old batteries collected at Li-Cycle’s “Spoke” facilities which located across the U.S., including one now operational with 40 employees at Rochester’s EBP, and extract the key components for re-usable minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel to help make new batteries for major manufacturers like GM, LG, and others. Li-cycle will be an integral domestic supply chain producer as the U.S. seeks to make more of these battery components for electric vehicles here at home.
Schumer said this major federal investment in Li-Cycle couldn’t come at a better time as the Finger Lakes, along with the Southern Tier, is poised to become America’s next major lithium battery research hub thanks to over $63 million the senator secured for the New Energy New York consortium through the EDA Build Back Better Region Challenge. In addition to Li-Cycle and the New Energy New York project which will include research done at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Schumer’s efforts to make New York a leader in the future of battery research and technology is already seeing results across the state. Earlier this year following his direct appeal, Zinc8, a leader in cutting-edge battery and energy storage technology, officially signed a letter of intent to make Ulster County their first major manufacturing hub as the company looks towards commercialization, which will bring up to 500 good-paying clean energy jobs to New York.
Schumer has a long history of fighting to bring manufacturing back to Rochester that made today’s announcement possible. In 2014, Schumer brokered the federal agreement to pave way for Eastman Business Park’s (EBP) redevelopment by making it possible to attract new businesses to locate and set up shop at EBP. Thanks to this Schumer-brokered federal agreement, Li-Cycle is just the latest company to locate and add jobs at EBP. Currently in total more than 122 companies are now located at EBP that together employ over 6,000 people.
A copy of Schumer’s original letter of support to Department of Energy Secretary Granholm appears below:
Dear Secretary Granholm:
I am pleased to write in support of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM) application submitted by Li-Cycle for their North American Hub project. Their proposal will enable Li-Cycle’s Rochester, NY hub to become one of the largest facilities and sources of recycled lithium in the world.
Li-Cycle plays a unique and critical role in both manufacturing and the supply chain of battery materials. As lithium batteries become increasingly relied on worldwide for a variety of purposes, there has become a desperate need to ensure we not only have a strong domestic supply chain, but also that there is a clean and sustainable way to recycle these materials. Li-Cycle is at the forefront of these efforts; between their current and planned spokes, they will soon have a processing capability of up to 45,000 tons per year in North America and 20,000 tons per year in Europe.
With this funding, Li-Cycle will be able to construct their hub in Rochester, NY, allowing them to process thousands of tons of black mass a year to produce critical materials such as nickel sulphate, lithium carbonate, and cobalt sulphate in the US. With plans to create 220 direct jobs in the local workforce, combined with the national security interest of keeping these minerals in our domestic supply chain, Li-Cycle’s environmentally friendly process will have wide reaching impacts on both the Rochester area and the entire nation. Li-Cycle would be positioned as the number one US-based secondary recycling supplier of battery grade materials all with minimal environmental impact, no wastewater, and no direct emissions.
I applaud Li-Cycle for its foresight and sincerely hope the application meets with your approval. Thank you for your consideration.
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